Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-02-06
RAILROAD HORROR.
rRIeHrrUL ACCIDENT on THE CEN
TRIAL vRRn0ET RAILROAD.
APsssongsr Train Precipitated Into White
Bivor-csfs and Bridge Burnea-xany
Persons KILLED, Burned 20 Death,
and Injured.
~ inlncrnnh b lhe plspatch. J

trcal. which left here at $40 O'Clock
last night. ran off the bridge at Wood
stock. Vt. two miles north Of White
River junction, and the sleepers and
possepecr-cars and tie bridge were en-
tirely burned
It's reported that there are large
number of people injured, ana
the number killed pnd burned Is
also reported to be large. Conductor
Startcvant was fatally burned. The
accident occurred probably between !
and . o'clock this morning on the Cen
tral Vermont railroad.
The train Was made up and consisted
of one sleeper and passenger-coach
from here. one Chicago sleeper, con
pccted at White River Junction, one
Boston slceping-cnr, one mail-car from
Boston. and one other passengcr-coach,
one baggage and one capress-car
Frank Wesson. son Of d. q. Ne,son,
of this city. OF the firm Of Smith
WcSsOn, pistol manufacturers, was
among the killed.
The train was about an hour and "A
half hate leaving White River junction
1t consisted OF a locomotive. baggage
car, postal-car two psssengcr-coaches,
and two sleeping and was running
at the usual rate Of speed. When about
two hundred yards south OF the end OF
Deer bridge, near old windsor station,
II broken nil was struck. The locOmo-
motive. baggage-car, and poStal-car
broke away from the rest of tle train,
passing over the bridge in safety. The
rest of the train was thrown
from the rails and continued on
the road-bcd until it came near
the end of the bridge, bat there
il nan over the abutmcnt, and allOf the
cars fell into White river, some fifty
feet below. The gorge mt this point Is
frightful, and when the cars went down
there was n terrible crash. As soon as
possible the detached part OF the train
was stopped and ran bdck to the scene
Of the disaster. The screams of the
injured were beartrending. Assistance
also came from people living in the
vicinity, and everything was done to
rcscuc and relieve the injured. Soon |
after help arrived il was discovered |
that fire had started in the first pasSen- |
Ccr-cOach, and soon the entire train was |
ablaze, thus adding a new horror
10 the already frightful catastrophe. |
Those present were pOwerlesS TO stop |
the fire. and devoted themselves en- |
tirely 10 attempting to rescue those I'M |
prisOned in the wreck. The rescuers |
met another and unexpected obstacle
IN the heat, which had become 50 in |
tense that they were obliged to rclin-
Quish their efforts to save the sufferers, |
and were compelled to retreat TO aplace
of sdfcty for themselves and to become |
unwilling and horor-stricken witnesses |
of the awful holocaust. In addition |
to this and to add to the tcrTors and |
suffcrinos of the passengers, the |
weather was intensely cold, and |
the heroic rcScuers were hindered |
thereby in their work No water could |
De obtained with which TO check or eX-
tinguish the flames The ice was sew
cral inches thick on the river, and there
were no appliances at hand to raise it.
1t has not been. and probably never
will be. possible to tell accurately how
many lives have been lost. From the
best data obtainable there were about
eighty persons III the four cars de-
strOved. The lowest estimate places
the probable number of killed ut thirty,
and il is possible that twice that num-
Der may be correct. 4 great many were
killed outright 10y the tremendous fall
and crush OF cars, hut several cases
are known where people unhurt or only
slightly injured were fastened in the
wreck and burned to death. One lady
and one gentleman were rescued from a
sleeper badly bruised and almost naked,
their clothing being torn from them in
hastily pulling them'out of reach of the
fire The bridge caught fire and was
destroyed The night was freezing
cold, and hut for the hospitality of
farmer named Thomas Pingree, who
lived near the scene of the accident,
who filed his house with sufferers. many
who escaped the wreck with little or no
clothing would have frozen to death.
AN RYE-wIrNEss's STORY.
IraA. Chase. of Bristol, was at White
River Junction when the news Of the
disaster was received He went TO the
wreck on a special train. His story of
the accident is a. follows:
The train left White-Riv Junction
ate. and the accident is thought to
have occurred at about 2:lj A. NJ. A
gOken rail was discovered some 200
Get this side Of the bridge, but whether
his caused the accident or wheel first
broke il is III doubt. The locomotive
md baggage and mail-cars crossed the
ridge in safety. Two passenger
coaches, the Boston sleeping-car Pill
rim and the Springfield sleeper "St.
Slhans" went off the bridge at the end
N the right hand side, and apparently
urned bottom side up in the fall. Men
wing near 10y stated that when they
,ot to the scene there was no fire except
"a the forward passenger car, but the |
lanes soon spread to the other /
ars and then to the bridge. All a
we're consumed. Twenty-six persons, '
q far as known, were taken out alive
rom the cars which were burned. Two d
+ these are understood to be Mr.. Wes- c
on, Of Springfield, and Ed. Brockle- t
anks. IA brakeman, but they died soon y
forwards. The two passenger-coaches
,ere well filed. and every berth in the i
,oston sleeping-car was occupied and l
gelve in the one from Springfield, c
laking the total number of passengers !
D the wrecked cars about eighty Il
This will probably make the number a
{ dead between fifty and sixty. r
The bridge was between thIty and z
,rty feet above the water, which was Z
oyered with thick ice, making 1t pro- Il
able that death resulted from crushing
pd burning rather than from drown Il
70. Several were penned IN the wreck h
no might have been rescued alive but II
n the flames. Brakeman Perker, who l
az on the forward end Of the first pas II
.neer-car, felt the jar and saved his a
fe by jumping. He quickly secured t.
,nyeyance and carried the news to n
Ihite- River junction. o
THE STORY or ONE WHO ESCAPED. /,
An occupant OF the Boston sleeper W
, the wrecked Montreal train, whose n
anne could not be ascertained, passed Il
rough here this afternoon. He said m
,e car was full, every berth being oc- M
,uied. The tram was late out of White
- T...,otse,, o,,d when N left N had